Smart women are a national treasure. Smart women can make a difference when they're committed to a cause and motivated to act for principle, for change, for a better society. And some of the smartest women in America are members of MomsRising.org.
Started in May 2006, MomsRising is an online advocacy/activist group whose credo reads: "...working to bring together millions of people who share a common concern about the need to build a more family-friendly America." 150,000 members strong and growing, MomsRising works for pro-family, pro-mother, pro-child legislative change to better protect the health and welfare of children and families. The group is also actively working to advance workplace policies that will support American families.
These women played a national game Biden/Palin Debate Bingo, then met online to compare their scores and rate the candidates. When I left the group to write this post at 12:30 a.m. it wasn't even close. In the opinion of most of these moms, Joe Biden was the clear winner.
On the issue of healthcare, Monstermom wrote: "Palin says deregulate and let it all shake out (yeah, like Wall Street, right?)...[It was] one heck of a photo-op for Palin. Whoever wrote her speech...sure knew how to throw the key words in as many times as she could...As I see it, 'maverick' equals 'cowboy' which hasn't done much but ruin us for the last eight years."
Anonymous wrote: "I thought Palin got lost and started fumbling -- so she relied on family platitudes to drum up sympathy votes instead of actually addressing issues."
Another Anonymous: "...people get lost in her circular responses..."
Smart women are a national treasure. Smart women, committed to a cause and motivated to effect positive change, are a force to be reckoned with. And there are some pretty smart women active in MomsRising.org.
Started in May 2006, 150,000 members strong and growing, MomsRising is an online advocacy/activist group whose credo reads: "...working to bring together millions of people who share common concern about the need to build a more family-friendly America..." The group speaks out for legislative change which is more pro-family, pro-mom and pro-child; legislation to provide better healthcare, childcare, daycare, education, and product safety for American families. They are also working to advance workplace policies which support families.
These moms played a national game of Biden/Palin Debate Bingo, then met online to compare scores, rate the candidates and select a winner. When I left the group at 12:30 a.m. to write this post, it wasn't even close. Joe Biden was the clear winner and their takes on the debate do not bode well for a McCain/Palin victory in November:
Monstermom (on healthcare): "Palin says deregulate and let it all shake out (yeah, like Wall Street, right?)."
Anonymous: "I thought Palin got lost and started fumbling -- so she relied on family platitudes...instead of actually addressing issues."
Anonymous: "...people get lost in her circular responses..."
AuntGinny: "Three cheers for those who've pointed out that just saying 'family' and 'Mother' means nothing...PAY ATTENTION TO CONTEXT. Think!"
Jessa: "Choosing between the Dems and Rep [sic] is like picking Coke or Pepsi."
"Miss" did not write a post. She inserted the link to Rolling Stones' scathing piece "Make Believe Maverick, The Real John McCain".
SLB: "[Palin] is skilled at saying nothing and sounding charming and sparkly, distracting people from her lack of real substance."
Monstermom: "...We were told that Saddam had WMDs! We were lied into starting this global fire! We need to get this warhawk out of the [White House] and try talking to folks again!"
(Bear with me here -- there's one in every crowd) No Name: "I'll definitely be voting for McCain/Palin if for no other reason than to keep the anti-Christ (Obama for you clueless folks) OUT of office..."
Lotus: "If anyone can take Palin seriously, they're not paying attention. If anyone thinks McCain hasn't been Bush's clone, they're not paying attention. If you really think Obama is the anti-Christ, then you're not paying attention."
Monica: "...I found Palin competent, but very scripted."
Anonymous: "Palin's explanation of the entire Middle East crisis sounded like it came straight from Wikipedia."
Anonymous: "Biden 0, Palin 0. I think both candidates lack social awareness...where's the amazing leader that stands for women, children, families, stuff that gets talked about at MY dinner table?"
Anonymous: "...I think Palin's glaring vacuousness has become very obvious to absolutely everyone else, including fiscally conservative Republicans who can see through her charming little smokescreen."
Quite a few women were frustrated by the debate overall, disappointed that there was not more focus on struggling working- and middle-class families. They faulted Gwen Ifill for failing to steer more questions in the "family issues" direction.
There is not always a feel-good moment at the end of a political debate. In fairness, a good debate (or even a bad one) is not meant to leave us smiling. But the MomsRising blog was thoughtful enough to feature a post which had all of us feeling pretty good:
TexasKid: "I am a twelve year old boy, and I helped to tally the points on the Bingo sheet. I thought it may be interesting to some of you to know what I thought of the debate.
"I think that, overall, Biden did the best job of trying not to avoid questions, though he did sidestep once in awhile. Palin, however, I never heard her answer a question directly, and I was really tired of hearing the words 'maverick' and 'Alaska'. The other annoying thing about Palin was that she, like Bush, does not know the correct way to pronounce 'nuclear'."
TexasKid's mom was very proud of her son.
As for the rest of us, we were, too. We only wish he were old enough to vote...